Romania: EU Commission fines Romgaz gas company

22. July 2016. / SEE Energy News

The European Court of Auditors has found out during the investigations carried out in the beginning of June that Romanian state-owned natural gas producer Romgaz has sold 35.6 million euros worth of gas without respecting the regulations. Therefore, the Court demanded that Romgaz has to recover the damage.

The representatives of Romgaz said that the company has already filed an administrative appeal against this decision and asked its shareholders to hire a law firm to represent the company in the dispute with the European Commission (EC) and the Court of Auditors.

In early June, the European Commission, namely its Directorate-General for Competition, conducted unannounced inspections related to the prevention of natural gas exports at three large Romanian natural gas companies: Transgaz, Romgaz and OMV Petrom, which are being suspected of creating a cartel for the purpose of blocking gas exports from Romania to other EU countries. The issue of preventing gas exports is not a new one. For several years, Romanian Government tried to control and delay exports of domestically produced natural gas, which was reflected in the fact that Transgaz did not invest much in gas interconnections with neighboring countries. EC already launched an infringement procedure against Romania regarding this matter, transmits Serbia-energy.eu

The European Court of Auditors has found out during the investigations carried out in the beginning of June that Romanian state-owned natural gas producer Romgaz has sold 35.6 million euros worth of gas without respecting the regulations. Therefore, the Court demanded that Romgaz has to recover the damage.

The representatives of Romgaz said that the company has already filed an administrative appeal against this decision and asked its shareholders to hire a law firm to represent the company in the dispute with the European Commission (EC) and the Court of Auditors.

In early June, the European Commission, namely its Directorate-General for Competition, conducted unannounced inspections related to the prevention of natural gas exports at three large Romanian natural gas companies: Transgaz, Romgaz and OMV Petrom, which are being suspected of creating a cartel for the purpose of blocking gas exports from Romania to other EU countries. The issue of preventing gas exports is not a new one. For several years, Romanian Government tried to control and delay exports of domestically produced natural gas, which was reflected in the fact that Transgaz did not invest much in gas interconnections with neighboring countries. EC already launched an infringement procedure against Romania regarding this matter, transmits Serbia-energy.eu